This invention relates to water purification and, more particularly, to the removal of the volatile constituents of gasoline from the gasoline and water found at contaminated underground sites, such as gasoline service station storage locations, and the removal of volatile organic constituents from contaminated water.
For many years, gasoline service stations have been provided with subterranean gasoline storage tanks that were and are made of steel. Such tanks, over many years of service, rust due to water condensation in such tanks, and they have begun to leak gasoline into the surrounding soil. Such a condition is serious because, in some instances, the gasoline can leach into potable water supplies and into nearby water streams and the like.
While the rusted storage tanks can be replaced easily with fiberglass tanks, the removal of the gasoline and water from the ground around the tanks has not been accomplished as easily.
It is an object of the present invention to provide an and method for removal of the volatile constituents of gasoline from the environs of the rusted and leaking gasoline storage tanks, and for eliminating the fouling characteristics of conventional media in treating such contaminated gasoline-water mixture.
In other locations, potable water sometimes becomes contaminated with dissolved volatile organic chemicals. Another object of the present invention is to provide apparatus and method for removing the volatile organic chemicals from this contaminated water.